Hawaii teacher’s custom Obama swimsuit showcased at presidential center

News admin July 2, 2026 0 Comments

Hawaii teacher’s custom Obama swimsuit showcased at presidential center

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A Hawaii teacher’s custom-made swimsuit is now on display at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

Brittany Beauchan designed the swimsuit with a teammate in 2008, when she was swimming for UCLA, as a creative way to show support for then-candidate Barack Obama. “We had discussed how could we show our support… in a way that was creative and also reflective of who we were,” Beauchan said.

Twelve years later, Beauchan found the suit during a COVID-era deep clean.

“I was doing a deep clean of my house… and I found my suit. And it felt too important to just throw it away and throw it in the trash,” she said.

When she learned the Obama Presidential Library was looking for grassroots artifacts, “you could send a pin, a button, whatever… it was just this big call,” she submitted the swimsuit for consideration.

Beauchan said she didn’t know it would actually be displayed until the center’s soft opening. “I didn’t actually find out if my swimsuit was going to be used… until they invited me to the soft opening… they really kept it under wraps,” she said.

The suit stood out among more typical campaign memorabilia. “I think the swimsuit was something that was very different because everything was like a pin or a T-shirt,” Beauchan said. “They didn’t conceive of, ‘oh yeah, you can campaign while you’re in the water or while you’re at swim practice.’”

Beauchan and Obama also share a connection to Hawaii; both are Punahou School graduates. Beauchan said she hopes to see the display in person within the next year. “I’m hoping within the next year or so that I can actually go and see the swimsuit,” she said.